Since we already have a thread detailing current Hip Hop and R&B, Willink and I are going to take you on a whirlwind tour through our crates of the dopest hip hop ever. Don't know anything about the Golden Era of Hip Hop? We got you covered. Gangstarr to Hiero. Boot Camp to Hobo Junction. Living Legends to Native Tongues. Pete Rock to Diamond D. Primo to the Beatnuts. Off the head freestyling. The art of beatmaking. Lyricism. Flow. Storytelling. Battle raps.

It's on!

To help those catch up, here's a list of what's covered and if the type is in red, links are provided. Check the pages themselves for more details, analysis, and history.

Back in 1992, Pete Rock & CL Smooth released the first single from their masterpiece album Mecca And The Soul Brother. "T.R.O.Y." features a magnificent beat by Pete Rock that sampled Tom Scott's "Today" that invoked emotion in a way rarely seen in today's hip hop production. Even more amazing is the fact that Pete was able to pull this off with only 26 seconds of sampling time on the SP-1200. CL Smooth bears his soul on multiple subjects including being raised by a single mother as well as the death of Pet's brother Troy aka Trouble T-Roy who was one of Heavy D's dancers (Heavy D is their cousin). CL Smooth's mesmerizing flow matches the beat's glorious horns creating a song well known for being played at weddings and funerals. I first heard this when I saw the video on BET's Rap City (back when there were shows that actually showed music videos and good ones at that) when I was visiting a friend in Milwaukee. In the video, Pete & CL took you on a journey through their neighborhood on Mount Vernon, NY. We immediately when on a hunt looking for the song. Back then you had to buy it on vinyl or cassingle. What's a cassingle you ask? LoL

Cassette + single = cassingle. Back in the day, these always had the dopest remixes and bonus tracks you couldn't find on an album. This is before the Internet obviously. As you can see, I still have the tape almost 20 years later. It's my favorite hip hop song of all time so I had to keep it.

As many of you know, I'm a huge Alabama Crimson Tide fan and went to school there for 2 years. I was living in Chicago and made the move over 12 hours to Tuscaloosa. I gravitated toward my eventual crew that was comprised of friends from New York, DC, and Los Angeles. My boy Sean was a DJ from Hollis, Queens and would always bring back the freshest hip hop available. He and another friend had a Thursday night Hip Hop show on UA's radio station and always played the realness (altho we used to prank call and ask for the wackest groups we could think of- mainly Poison Clan). There was this new group that we quickly became fans of- Souls of Mischief. Of course we all knew Del The Funkee Homosapien who rolled with his cousin Ice Cube and he co-wrote Cube's classic "Jackin' For Beats" (it's obvious from Cube's flow) but now he had his own crew- Hieroglyphics.

These cats were from Oakland but at first listen I swore they were from NYC. I had never heard any West Coast rappers spit like this! First it was the group's debut single "That's When Ya Lost" which had "Let 'em Know" where they eviscerate anyone who steps to them. Lyrically (and production-wise) this is a masterpiece of an album and arguably the best West Coast album ever.

The first time I saw the video for '93 til, we were kicking it at my boy Broadway's apartment a couple blocks from Bryant-Denny Sttadium watching Yo! MTV Raps (back when MTV played music videos! Yeah, I know! Crazy, right?). We were bumping the Wu and Onyx on wax during commercial breaks and whenever a wack video might come on. Then they premiered the video for Souls' 2nd single- 93 'til Infinity. The beautiful loop of Billy Cobham's "Heather" mas flipped perfectly by A-Plus and remains one of my favorite beats (and songs). Souls go back and forth on the rhyme scheme switching bars arrangement. The video was a complete 180 from most videos. Usually, the videos of the time featuring rappers acting hard in their hood flexing with chicks and kicking it around the way. Souls took their video shoot to Yosemite Park and the brilliant director Michael Lucero captured their creativity with a video to match.

A few of my friends were yapping away so I went and sat 3 ft from the TV on the floor staring at this video. I was completely hypnotized by the sound and style of the song and video. I had never heard a track like this before esp not from the Bay Area! My buddy from Carson was hip to Hiero being from Cali himself and put me on to the Hiero Oldies tapes that were first started to circulate. I've been a huge fan ever since.

I've lived all over this country. Born in New Jersey. Moved to Milwaukee when I was a shorty and lived there up thru 8th grade (hence being a Packers and Bucks fan). Went to HS in Harrisburg (hated Penn St so while classmates went there, I dipped to Bama). A week after graduating, the fam moved to Chicago where I discovered this MC named Common Sense. I bumped his debut album Can I Borrow A Dollar? (produced almost exclusively by No I.D. then known as Immenslope) on the regular. Back then, he rhymed much different but in a city known solely for house music, it was refreshing to have an authentic rapper holding the Chi down. The album got a little burn (mainly "Take It EZ", "Breaker 1/9", and "Heidi Ho") but it was when he released a remix for "Soul By The Pound" that heads really took notice. I got back to Bama after the summer and my crew were all bumping the remix.

Almost a year later I had transferred to the University of Akron (long story) and patiently waited for Common Sense's follow-up (he wasn't forced to shorten his name to Common until his 3rd album) album, Resurrection. The first single was "I Used To Love H.E.R." where Common tells a tale about his love over a haunting No I.D. track. We all know what the song is about and if you don't then you should watch the video or listen to the song before this spoiler but it was the first time you heard the track that you'll never forget. The last line where he reveals he was speaking about hip hop. Nowadays, a song using a metaphor is (ahem) commonplace and we all break down songs and films as we watch (some more than others) trying to figure out what's going to happen. But it's the true works of art that are so good that you turn your brain off for awhile and enjoy it for what it is. This is a prime example of such a song. It's Common's magnum opus and IMO so is the album Resurrection.

This song actually led to a beef between Common and the Westside Connection who thought Common was dissing gangsta rap. They clearly didn't listen to the song but in all likelihood, they had friends gassing them up talking trash. Westside Connection attacked him out of the blue on their song "Westside Slaughterhouse" and repeatedly took jabs at him in interviews and on shows like Rap City. Common responded in a way that cemented his legacy. With Resurrection, Common had solidified himself as one of the best MC's in the game but nobody expected what was to come- a scathing response track produced by Pete Rock called "The B!+ch In Yoo" that shut them up so fast their heads spun. This song in itself is worth it's own post and down the road, we'll be featuring some of hip hop's greatest feuds._________________

Last edited by thrILL! on Thu Oct 13, 2011 9:35 pm; edited 1 time in total

I was completely hypnotized by the sound and style of the song and video. I had never heard a track like this before esp not from the Bay Area!

My first impression on seeing the video was "uh, why are they rhyming in a forest??!".

Diverging a bit from the theme of thrILL!s post, which focuses on classic records from the period, I'd like to outline two of my favorite tracks which fall within the time frame in question (roughly till 1999). CBA to do a write up for a third right now, I have class in like twenty minutes.

Now remembered by people considered "heads" today mostly for introducing DOOM, who made his first recorded appearance on this track, 3rd Bass was actually a fairly successful hip hop group commercially during the late 1980's and early 1990's, with tracks such as Steppin' To The A.M. and the not so subtle Vanilla Ice diss Pop Goes the Weasel, the latter of which attained gold certification and reached number one on rap charts. Serch was always an entertaining emcee, Pete Nice had a very matter-of-fact, carefully worded delivery that was accented by his appearance (dat cane and suit selection). The two combined with DJ Richie Rich and a number of other associated acts to put out some memorable music during a period where hip-hop's Stetsasonic-like quirky side was as vibrant as ever.

The Gas Face is built around samples of The Emotions' track I Like It and the Aretha Franklin track Respect put together nicely by Prince Paul. Throughout the track Serch and Pete Nice criticize artists quick to trade artistic integrity for record deals which is mixed alongside typical braggadocio of the period, and a description of how to actually use the gas face. After a guest apperance by DOOM the track then devolves into a list of people who do and do not get the gas face, which includes a hilarious diss of MC Hammer. In the video a foam hammer wearing glasses is smacked around and thrown on the ground as myriad of guest artists and label mates stand around making the gas face. It doesn't have the ill horns of a track like Product Of The Environment but it's a fun, quirky record that helped introduce the phrase gas face into hip hop lexicon (I remember hearing it before ever hearing the track).

Jumping to the opposite of the spectrum, I think this record illustrates all that was good about the "underground" hip hop scene in the mid-late 1990's. Small independent labels like Dolo records and Beyond Real Records were quietly releasing tons of GREAT material with artists like Juggaknots and L The Head Toucha, and it was actually getting played on stations like Hot97. From that loose collective of underground artists guys like DJ Spinna came up and ended up contributing work for Black Star's album, which was sort of the pre-Kanye pinnacle of "alternate" hip-hop from a commercial and critical perspective after terrible schit like C-Murder and Silkk the Shocker somehow topped the charts and artists such as DMX and the like started to blow up.

The track itself is a tour-de-force in 90's NY hip hop production, with cuts of De La's verses from The Bizness building atop hard drums ( sampled from the Brethren track Outside Love) and a great flip of the Don Blackman piano work on the track Holding You, Loving You. Toucha's delivery is a dead-ringer for AZ, and his rhyme structure, flow, and cadence are all on point.

Quote:

Deep in the depths of the mind
the poets prime trapped like a mime
in the same space and time lifeless
vocals excel the trifeless
centerfold of ya' cyphers
my aura shines divine priceless

Ridiculous._________________

Quote:

If I have not lost my mind I can sometimes hear it preparing to defect

Last edited by Willink on Mon Oct 17, 2011 2:27 pm; edited 1 time in total

Get on the yearly Buc carousel. Start off trash. Look better by mid season. Win 2-3 games at the end of the season. Get the 7th pick. Have what most fans consider a great draft and free agency. Start off trash again. Rinse and repeat

A fantastic song and video (also directed by Michael Lucero who I plan on dedicating a post to at some point soon). I give Souls the nod bcuz all 4 MC's are better than the Pharcyde's. Ever heard their collabo project?

The first song is actually an A-Plus solo joint called "Curb Your Nerve" which has an insanely dope beat. Tell me that beat ain't hot? I can play that instrumental for hours too. The 2nd song is called "Amp" which features Souls and Pharcyde together (this is when Pharcyde was just Bootie Brown and Imani). I got to see them perform this together live in Cleveland back in '02 I think it was._________________

A fantastic song and video (also directed by Michael Lucero who I plan on dedicating a post to at some point soon). I give Souls the nod bcuz all 4 MC's are better than the Pharcyde's. Ever heard their collabo project?

The first song is actually an A-Plus solo joint called "Curb Your Nerve" which has an insanely dope beat. Tell me that beat ain't hot? I can play that instrumental for hours too. The 2nd song is called "Amp" which features Souls and Pharcyde together (this is when Pharcyde was just Bootie Brown and Imani). I got to see them perform this together live in Cleveland back in '02 I think it was.

Here's a link for a free DL of Stunts, Blunts, & Hip Hop featuring some of the best beats of all time. Guest stars include Brand Nubian, Showbiz, & Fat Joe.

Thank you.

New music in my ipod _________________

wrote:

Get on the yearly Buc carousel. Start off trash. Look better by mid season. Win 2-3 games at the end of the season. Get the 7th pick. Have what most fans consider a great draft and free agency. Start off trash again. Rinse and repeat